Wiring A Brain To See

Stanford University's Dr. Stephen Smith, an authority on microscope imaging techniques and the biology of brain cells, will talk about the eye-brain connection in the developing embryo, in the second in the Exploratorium's Cutting Edge Biology Lecture Series. This event, Wiring a Brain to See, is free and open to the public and takes place on Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 7pm in the Exploratorium's McBean Theater.

Most of our knowledge about how the nervous system works has come from using animal models. Using tiny zebrafish larvae and various nerve cell markers, researchers have probed some of the remarkable events that lead to our ability to see. Using research microscopes and genetically modified fish larvae, Dr. Smith will present some of his latest observations and describe the growing connections between a developing eye and brain.

Participants will see astounding images of these tiny embryos and learn how nerve cells communicate with one another. Participants will be able to view live organisms used to study these processes under the microscope as well as take part in the Q & A.

This series is made possible by the National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health. The next lecture is in the series is on What Makes Cancers Go? On Thursday, April 5, 2007, 7pm, with Dr. Thea Tlsty, a professor of pathology at UCSF. -- www.exploratorium.edu